Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Decreases Stake in Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. cut its position in shares of Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,085 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 110 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Pentair were worth $5,745,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PNR. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its stake in Pentair by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 7,628 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $768,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in Pentair by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,194 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $120,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Pentair by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 916 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of Pentair by 105.5% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 261 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Annex Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pentair by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,369 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $540,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Pentair Price Performance

PNR opened at $91.11 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.02 billion, a PE ratio of 24.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The business’s 50-day moving average is $95.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $98.81. Pentair plc has a 1 year low of $72.63 and a 1 year high of $110.71.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $972.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $970.95 million. Pentair had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 20.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.87 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Pentair plc will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pentair Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, April 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.10%. Pentair’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Pentair from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Pentair in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $125.00 price target for the company. Citigroup lowered their price target on Pentair from $126.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Robert W. Baird raised Pentair from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $114.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Pentair in a report on Monday, January 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.93.

Pentair Profile

Pentair plc provides various water solutions in the United States, Western Europe, China, Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Australia, Canada, and Japan. The company operates through three segments: Flow, Water Solutions, and Pool. The Flow segment designs, manufactures, and sells fluid treatment and pump products and systems, including pressure vessels, gas recovery solutions, membrane bioreactors, wastewater reuse systems and advanced membrane filtration, separation systems, water disposal pumps, water supply pumps, fluid transfer pumps, turbine pumps, solid handling pumps, and agricultural spray nozzles for fluid delivery, ion exchange, desalination, food and beverage, separation technologies in the oil and gas industry, residential and municipal wells, water treatment, wastewater solids handling, pressure boosting, circulation and transfer, fire suppression, flood control, agricultural irrigation, and crop spray in residential, commercial, and industrial markets.